


Reflection of the Sky in a Puddle

by MyrddinDerwydd



Series: 30 Days of Dragon Age [11]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age Inquisition - Fandom
Genre: Background Relationships, Gen, Identity, Solavellan, The Fade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 05:18:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15856986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrddinDerwydd/pseuds/MyrddinDerwydd
Summary: There's another world of blue, a window in the grass. Don't you see it? SFW, background Solavellan.Writing Masterpost, organized by main character.





	Reflection of the Sky in a Puddle

“Cole, you’ve been crouched there for hours.”  

_ Amused, curious. She’s always curious. _

Cole tilted his head as Ellie’s voice rolled over him, but his eyes never left the mirrored water. 

“Quiet,” Cole said. “A quiet place, resting, clear.” 

The Iron Bull raised a rough eyebrow at them as the Chargers jogged boisterously by on their way to the practice field. 

“Really?” Ellie’s laugh was full, but not mocking. “You’re square in the middle of the courtyard.” 

_ Laughter makes him lighter. Too long in silence. _

“No, the courtyard isn’t here, only the sky. Pure and peaceful,” came the cryptic reply.

Ellie squatted down beside Cole, folding gracefully over the puddle and resting her elbows between her knees. The shallow pool was a fathom or so in width and contained just enough water to crest the cropped grass and provide a reflection. She flipped her long braid back over her shoulder and leaned in to see what Cole saw - the crisp blue of the autumn sky over the Frostbacks was lovely, if unsurprising.

“Alright, I can see that the view is quite peaceful.” Ellie glanced up as a scout trotted through toward the stable, barely missing Cole but not giving either of them a second glance. “Hasn’t everyone been knocking into you or asking you to move? It isn’t safe here.” 

_ Gentle, confused, but he isn't a child. _

“No one asks, no one sees. Unseen and free, blue everywhere, and nothing - no one - no cares and calls and hurts.” Cole gripped his knees a little tighter, leaning toward the reflected scene as if drawn by a cord. 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to actually look at the sky? Have you tried the roof? Or the waterfall in the undercroft?” She leaned in to peer up toward his face. “Good options for when you need space to stare at the sky.”

_ Compassion, but for me? Can she give me to me? _

“The sky  above is full, Nightingale, ravens, beetles. This sky wants nothing except to be,” Cole explained. “It lets me… be me? Like in the Fade, except more. More nothing, less… everything.”

Ellie sat quietly for a moment before shaking her head and huffing a soft sigh. “Cole, it’s just a reflection. It isn’t real, it will be gone in a few hours. Solas says the Fade is real. Don’t you agree?”

_ She doesn’t see, too real but not real. The mirrors are dark but not broken. _

“So real it burns away with a thought, a flash, a flicker, if you don’t hold yourself tight.” Cole sighed and finally sat back from the puddle. “Solas is always right, even when he’s wrong.”

Ellie snorted, a fond smirk dulling the derisive sound.

“It’s easier, somehow, to see you in the sky.” Cole held her eyes with the same intensity as he’d stared at the puddle only moments before. “Yourself is there, and you know it belongs, and the blue clears the clouds away until the world is free. It hurts to never be seen - fading like a candle at midnight, holding to the light, hiding in the dark - he knows.” 

“That is… amazingly difficult to follow, and will probably keep me awake tonight.” She smiled though, shaking her head and tucking her braid behind a pointed ear. “Do you want to go to the waterfall? It is at least slightly Fade-like, I should think.”

A gust of wind rippled the surface of the water as Ellie stood, scattering drops of the illusory sky.

_ Unneeded, lost worlds. People need me. He needs people to see him unseen. _


End file.
